FSBPT LAUNCHES PLAN FOR INTERSTATE LICENSE COMPACT

The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT) is in the nascent stage of developing a Physical Therapy license compact.  FSBPT’s aim is to reduce regulatory burdens by allowing cross-state practice for licensed Physical Therapists.  The nursing profession has had a nursing compact since 2000.  According to FSPBT, 24 states participate in the nursing compact.

FSBPT’s Advisory Task Force has recommended a similar model to the nursing compact. 

The licensee participant must hold one valid, current, unrestricted license his or her primary state of residence, notify any remote states in which s/he will be practicing and pay a fee to the remote state.

The final language is expected to be ready for review in mid-2015.  If a state wishes to participate in the PT license compact, that state will need to pass the final language into law.  This likely requires state legislative action.

FSPBT has a series of articles and FAQs on their webpage.

DELAYS AT THE NVC

The progression of priority dates in the recent few months has been exciting news for many, especially those EB-3 applicants who have been patiently waiting for their green cards for many years. 

Unfortunately the unexpected progression has swamped the National Visa Center.  The NVC is now issuing letters indicating that NVC cases will be delayed for 60 days.  Here is an excerpt from a stock form letter that our office has received in the last few days.  We have received about a dozen of these letters.

We are currently receiving an increased number of approved petitions from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. As a result, we are experiencing increased review times for documents received.

We expect it will be at least 60 days from the date we received your mail before we complete the review of your documents. We will notify you when we review your documents.

We are working to reduce these processing times and we appreciate your patience.

NVC FEE BILL REDUCTION

The Department of State has just reduced the price that it charges for an immigrant visa NVC Fee Bill.  The new fee is $345, which is decrease of $60 from the old rate of $405.  It is a steep reduction from a few years ago when the NVC Fee Bill charge was $720. 

The new, lower fee is effective September 12, 2014.  Fees that will decrease are not refundable.  If you paid a visa fee before September 12, 2014 and that fee decreased, the NVC will not issue a refund.

Many other fees associated with the visa process changed on September 12.  Some nonimmigrant visa fees increased.  For fees that will increase (nonimmigrant fees only), Visa fees paid will be accepted 90 days after the new fees go into effect.

• If you paid your visa fee before September 12, 2014, and your visa interview is on or before December 11, 2014, you do not have to pay the difference between the new and old fee amounts.
• If you paid your visa fee before September 12, 2014, and your visa interview is on or after December 12, 2014, you will be required to pay the difference between the old and new fee amounts.

VISA BULLETIN OCTOBER 2014

The Department of State has just released the October 2014 Visa Bulletin.  This is the first Visa Bulletin of the 2015 US Fiscal Year, which begins October 1, 2014.

The Philippines EB-3 has again had a substantial progression.  It is now at October 2011, which is a four year jump in the last four months.  It remains consistent with the All Other (ROW) EB-3 date.

India EB-2 also remained at May 2009.  India EB-3 unfortunately remains stuck in November 2003.

The Chinese EB-3 number continued to move dramatically and inconsistently.  It is now at April 2009.

Employment- Based	All Other	CHINA - mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	15NOV09	01MAY09	C	C
3rd	01OCT11	01APR09	15NOV03	01OCT11	01OCT11

AILA URGES USCIS TO CLARIFY AMBIGUOUS H-1B STANDARDS FOR NURSES

The USCIS issued a Memorandum in July 2014 aimed at clarifying their position on the adjudication of H-1Bs for Registered Nurses.  The Memorandum failed at this aim.  While it acknowledged that more and more employers are requiring Bachelor Degreed Registered Nurses, it failed to give any helpful guidance to USCIS officers. 

Now AILA hasweighed in on the discussion.  In contrast to the USCIS, AILA makes several important points.  Notably, AILA points out that the Occupational Outlook Handbook, “does not foreclose, but in fact lends credibility to the claim that an employer has such a requirement.”  This is true because the OOH recognizes the evolving nature of the position.

AILA also makes another clever factual argument. 

the O*Net database provides that 66% of employer respondents require an associate’s degree, while 23% require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree as an entry level credential for a registered nurse position. Therefore, 23% of employers should be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of USCIS that a nurse is a specialty occupation.

Adding to the problem, it appears that the link to the USCIS’ July Memorandum has disappeared.  Fortunately, we have preserved a copy on our DocStoc page.

US PT SHORTAGE IS GROWING

The Physical Therapy job market has long been predicted to be an area ripe for US labor shortages.  The 2014 Occupational Outlook Handbook projects that employment of Physical Therapists is expected to grow by 36 percent through 2022, which is “mush faster than the average for all occupations.”

The Conference Board’s new study From Not Enough Jobs to Not Enough Workers now reports that aging populations will cause even greater shortages than originally predicted in three targeted industries.  In a surprise to no one, healthcare is one of these three targeted industries. 

The press release from the study says that:

Health-related occupations. The same aging of the U.S. population that will curtail working-age population growth to as low as 0.15 percent by 2030 is also driving up demand for medical workers. At the same time, high education and experience requirements limit entry into the job market. The result is a dearth in many healthcare professions, including occupational therapy assistants, physical therapists and therapist assistants, nurse practitioners and midwives, and dental hygienists. Among doctors, optometrists and podiatrists are the specialists most at risk of shortage, with the general physicians and surgeons category not far behind.

The study has been cited in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, and PT in Motion.

MU LAW FREE CLIENT CONFERENCE CALL

Musillo Unkenholt will hold a free teleconference on Wednesday September 17, 2014 at 3PM ET / 12 noon PT.  All clients and friends of the firm are encouraged to dial-in to the call.  If you would like to register for the call, please send an email to: Annalisa@muimmigration.com.

The agenda for the teleconference includes:

* H-1B onboarding starts Oct 1: What do employers need to do to stay compliant?

* When does my H-1B worker have to start working?  The 30/60 day rule.

* When do I have to start paying an H-1B worker's salary?

* Form I-9 compliance

* E-Verify compliance

* Managing Social Security number issues.

* Handling Professional licensure issues.

* Working with the Consulate for H-1B Visa Issuance.

* H-1B cap 2014 final numbers and projections for 2015.

* What Congress and Pres. Obama are expected to do in 2014 in employment-based immigration.

Please contact your MU immigration attorney if you have any questions about this MU Visa Advisor or any other immigration issue.